Use of HPTLC for Simultaneous Determination of Three Fungicides in Tomatoes

A. simple, rapid, and sensitive high-performance thin layer chromatographic method for analysis of the residues of tricyclazole, thiram, and folpet in tomatoes has been established and validated. The sample was extracted by mechanical vibration at room temperature with acetone-dichloromethane 1:1 (v/v) and the extract was directly applied as bands to glass-backed silica gel 60F254 HPTLC plates. The plates were developed with hexane-acetone 6+4 (v/v) in an unsaturated glass twin-trough chamber. Evaluation of the developed HPTLC plates was performed densitometrically. The results indicated that the detection limits of tricyclazole (RF- 0.26), thiram (RF = 0.65), and folpet (RF = 0.77) were 1.2 x 10-8, 3.0 x 10-8, 4.0 x 10-8 g, respectively. Recoveries of the pesticides from tomatoes with this analytical method were 67.66-98.02%, and RSD were 0.13-22.06%. The precision and accuracy of this method were generally fit for analysis of pesticide residues in tomatoes.